BEHIND the scenes wrangling has again halted Labour's search for its Leigh constituency parliamentary candidate for the next general election -- expected to be held in May. On Tuesday night the selection process, which has been on and off for the past 12 months, was suspended after heated exchanges at Abbey Street Labour Club between Leigh Constituency Labour Party's executive committee members and regional Labour party representatives from Warrington headquarters.
At the meeting, regional officer Kevin Lee indicated Leigh CLP's insistence on a shortlist of four nominees was not acceptable and suggested eight names go forward for final elimination.
Regional demands were then reduced to a compromise of six but, in spite of a warning that the process could be suspended, Leigh CLP executives stuck to their guns. Mr Lee duly suspended the selection process, referring the matter to Labour's National Executive Committee.
This week factions described by some Labour Party members as "the enemy within" were said to have begun scandalmongering and targeting short-list favourites.
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